Talk: Impulse Inhibition in Frequent Cannabis Users

Описание: Speaker: ASSEL AL-BAYATI, York University (grid.21100.32)
Title: Impulse Inhibition in Frequent Cannabis Users
Emcee: Ulrik R Beierholm
Backend host: Pavithra Rajeswaran
Details: https://neuromatch.io/abstract?submis...
Lab Website: https://deniseh.lab.yorku.ca
Presented during Neuromatch Conference 3.0, Oct 26-30, 2020.

Summary: Since the legalization of recreational use of cannabis took effect in Canada, many questions have been brought forward regarding its immediate and sustained effect on daily tasks. For example, the long-term effect of cannabis is unclear on tasks that involve the inhibition of ingrained actions to avoid accidents, such as in driving or operating machinery. To investigate the effect of cannabis on various brain functions, we created a battery of cognitively demanding, visual-spatial and visual-motor tasks. Here, we discuss preliminary findings of one of the tasks in this battery: a speeded Go/No-Go task (80% go, 20% no-go) that measures the ability to inhibit motor impulses. Task performance is analyzed by comparing the proportion of false alarms on no-go trials as well as reaction times on hits and false alarms in frequent cannabis users (N=9) and non-users (N=63). Our findings indicate no difference in task performance on the speeded Go/No-Go task for frequent users of cannabis, versus non-users. These results may suggest the absence of a negative effect of cannabis on performance of impulse inhibition. However, these results are preliminary and are not conclusive on the impact of cannabis on cognition and motor performance.